CANbridge Life Sciences Announces Advisory Board Memembers

2013/09/26

CANBRIDGE LIFE SCIENCES APPOINTS FORMER GENZYME CEO, HENRI TERMEER,  TO ADVISORY  BOARD

 

ANNOUNCES ADDITIONAL BOARD MEMBERS

 

Beijing, China, September 26,2013—CANbridgeLife Sciences, a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing Western drug candidates in China and North Asia,announced that Henri A. Termeer, retired Chairman, President and CEO ofGenzyme Corporation, has joined the CANbridge Advisory Board as Chief Advisor.

CANbridge also announced the appointment of Advisory Board Members: James Geraghty, Entrepreneur-in-Residence of Third Rock Ventures, former Senior Vice President of North America Strategy and Business Development at Sanofi;  Mark Goldberg, M.D., Senior Vice President of Medical and Regulatory Affairs at SynagevaBioPharmaand Associate Clinical Professor at Harvard Medical School; Lai Wei, M.D., Director of Institute of Hepatology at Peking University and President of Chinese Hepatology Society and Xiaoping Ye, Ph.D., founder and CEO of TigerMed.

With nearly 30 years at Genzyme, Mr. Termeer built the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based start-up into one of the most successful global biotechnology companies in the world. Under his leadership, Genzyme pioneered new models of delivering first-in-class lifesaving therapies in a sustainable way to previously underserved patients.  In Asia, Genzyme local teams were particularly recognized as trailblazers in their innovative approached to overcoming regulatory and market access hurdles in the development of novel treatments for life-threatening diseases.

Mr.Geraghtyis a 20-year Genzymeveteran, where he played a key role in the company’s expansion into new therapeutic areas and geographical regions. He recently joined ThirdRockVentures to assist them in their rare genetic disease company portfolio.Dr. Goldberg was an accomplished board-certified medical oncologist and hematologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and at Dana Farber Cancer Institute.  Dr. Goldberg was also Senior Vice President at Genzyme for 16 years, focused on rare genetic diseases and clinical-stage oncology. At Genzyme, he played a central role in the regulatoryapproval of several benchmark therapies for rare diseases, including Fabrazyme®, Aldurazyme®, Myozyme® and Lumizyme®.  Dr. Wei is a world authority in liver disease.  As Chief of Department of Hepatology at Peking University People’s Hospital,he developed the Chinese Guideline for Management of Hepatitis BVirus Infections, an epidemic affecting over one-tenth of the Chinese population, and has also served as principal investigator on numerous Chinese liver disease clinical studies.  Dr. Ye founded and built one of the most successful contract clinical research companies in China, TigerMed. Dr.Yewas also Head of Clinical and Medical Affairs for Roche in China, where he oversaw drug development and approval.

“We are delighted that Mr. Termeer has joined our Advisory Board to lead this stellar group of members,” said James Xue, CANbridge founder and CEO. “We are confident that this world-class, multifaceted Board is uniquelyqualified to guide CANbridge as it partners with Western biotechs to build and develop a robustportfolio of promising clinical-stage treatments for underserved medical conditions in Asia.

“CANbridge is already off for a great start, having signed its first partnership with Azaya Therapeutics, in San Antonio, TX earlier this month. Assembling an Advisory Boardof industry leaders will put CANbridge in a good position to develop innovative drugs in Asia.  Each advisor lends to CANbridge his personal deep knowledge and experience, having brought life-saving treatments to their respective areas.  In particular, Henri’s vision of sustainably delivering biotechnology products that provide true value forpatients with serious conditionsin underserved parts of the world, resonates with CANbridge’s founding philosophy.  Additionally, Henri’s unparalleled industry experience and network within the global biotech entrepreneur community are invaluable to us.”

“I am excited about CANbridge’s potential to impact lives of 1.4 billon Chinese and millions of other Asians,” said Henri Termeer, Former CEO, Genzyme Corporation and Chief Advisor, CANbridge Advisory Board. “I worked with James for over a decade while he created and built-up GenzymeChina. I applaud his commitment to develop in China the Western treatments that hold the most promise for patients there, who are so often underserved. CANbridge also represents an attractive opportunity for Western biotech companies seeking to commercialize in China and North Asia. I look forward to working with CANbridge and the other Advisory Board members to bring these interests together and develop medical treatments that could improve the lives of the Chinese and Asian patients.”

 

About Henri A. Termeer

Henri A. Termeer served as Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Genzyme Corporation for nearly three decades, having been appointed President in 1983, two years after the company's founding.  He became CEO 1985 and Chairman in 1988, retiring from Genzyme in June 2011, following its acquisition by Sanofi in a transaction valued at more than $20 billion.

Mr. Termeer is active in the areas of humanitarian assistance, policy issues, and innovation in providing access to health care.  He is a Board member of Massachusetts Institute of Technology Corporation and serves on its Executive Committee, a director of Massachusetts General Hospital, Board member of Partners HealthCare, a member of the Board of Fellows of Harvard Medical School and on the Board of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO).  He also serves on the Boards of Abiomed, Inc., AVEO Pharmaceuticals, Verastem, Inc., Medical Simulation Corporation and Moderna Therapeutics.  In 2008, he was appointed to Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick’s Council of Economic Advisors and he is a co-chair of the Leadership Council of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Collaborative. Mr. Termeer is also Chairman Emeritus of the New England Healthcare Institute, a nonprofit, applied research health policy organization he was instrumental in founding.  He was elected a Fellow of the American Academyof Arts and Sciences in 1999

Mr. Termeer was Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston’s Board of Directors from 2010-2011 and served on the Board of Directors of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America. 

 

About CANbridge Life Sciences

CANbridge Life Sciences, Ltd. is a bio-pharmaceutical company acceleratingdevelopment and commercialization of specialty healthcare products for serious and critical medical conditions in China and North Asia (Korea and Taiwan).CANbridgedevelopspartnerships with Western bio-pharmaceutical companies with clinical-stage pharmaceutical, medical device or diagnostic products that are either unavailable in China/North Asia or address medical needs that are underserved in the region.CANbridge also licensesor obtains exclusive rights to commercialize drug and device products, that are approved in their home markets, for commercialization in China and North Asia. 

Led and backed by a highly-seasonedexecutive team, with extensive Chinese drug development experience,CANbridge has the capabilityto select, acquire, develop and commercialize future therapeutics and diagnostics targetingthe unmet medical needs of Chinese and East Asian patients with serious or critical conditions.

CANbridge is privately-held and headquartered in Beijing, China.  For more on CANbridgeLife Sciences, please go to www.canbridgepharma.com.

 

Contact:

Company

James Xue, CEO

+8610.8414.8018

781.995.0074

 

Media:

Deanne Eagle

Planet Communications

917.837.5866